Why Comparing GET OUT and US is Wrong and Why We Shouldn’t

A Summary About Why I’m Upset:

Jordan Peele, ah. What a legendary name, already being called the next Spielberg, the next Hitchcock, the next, I don’t know, I even read the next Kubrick. He’s none of these people and he will never be one of these people. I believe he has the possibility to SURPASS these people, and I think you guys are finally awake and ready to read that. Read it again. A director, a black director, a director in 2019, in the modern age of cinema has the possibility to surpass the names listed. Just let him.

Peele behind the camera

US and How Revolutionary It Actually Is

Now, this has no spoilers, but I want to get into why Us, directed by the already revolutionary Jordan Peele, is so unique and incredible without it being compared. It’s original, it’s visually something I couldn’t take my eyes off of – nobody could. Just the way Peele uses the color blue makes my eyes water, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Everything was pitch perfect. From the editing, the shots, to the acting, to that SCORE. Using ‘I Got 5 On It‘, and editing it to fit perfectly with one of the best horror scenes ever in film (I went there) was incredible. It’s just so upsetting when a director who is proving himself to be original, artistic, and giving the people what they want, has to go through so much comparison and hate. Let him breathe.

Why You Shouldn’t Compare GET OUT and US

Well, to make it clear, I hate comparing anyone’s current film to their previous one, just as much as I hate comparing actors new roles to their previous roles. “They just weren’t as good as they were in that other one,“. A critic is valid, but what I don’t like is an un-necessary critic: “Why doesn’t Us have enough commentary about race?” or “Us just doesn’t make a lot of sense compared to Get Out,“. I believe an artist is allowed to change-up his or her work in every different film they produce or for every different story they tell. But to those that say this film had no commentary is a not valid criticism in itself. Putting in good research and backing up your criticism with valid reasons has always been and should always be the way to becoming a respected critic.

Us (2019) – source: Universal Pictures

What I’ve Noticed With People and Their Bias Towards Other Directors

Let’s be real: we all have a favorite or multiple favorite directors, and no matter what, we will always want to watch their work unfold. Things I’ve noticed from people online, people locally is that they love to downgrade artists for not being their favorite. That is not okay, and I see it happening with Jordan Peele. He isn’t the next Spielberg, not the next Hitchcock. He is his own artist, giving his own vision to us – to experience, to laugh at, to get scared of. He’s learning, very much like the rest of us who have dreams of being in the film industry. So the next time you criticize a film, be mindful of the creators and give them valid criticism and valid reasoning to make them better, you don’t want to scare them away from doing more work, you want to inspire them to be their best, do their best, write better, scare better, make more people laugh, have more shots to be remembered. Just be nice people who are proving themselves to be masters of film-making. Don’t get comfortable. Thank you.